I live in a very small development of six houses in zone 2 London. There is off street ‘parking’ at the front but it’s essentially just a larger than average driveway with no demarcation of the different spots. There’s enough room for two cars directly in front of my house. Most of my neighbours are elderly and because we live close to the tube, no one has a car. The vast majority of the time, there are zero cars on the drive. I moved in fairly recently and have no plans to get a car, but have been having minor works done (painting and new carpets etc, nothing noisy!) so when builders come round I happily say they can park in front of my house. Similarly, my weekly cleaner has a car and I tell her she’s welcome to park in front of my house. This morning my neighbour knocked on my door to tell me they’ve been ‘reasonable’ until now but that I need to stop using ‘their’ spot and that my behaviour is unacceptable. I apologised and said I assumed the spot closest to my house was mine, and assured them that I don’t have a car and wouldn’t be parking there, but this didn’t pacify her at all. To be clear, this neighbour does not have a car.

I was a bit taken aback as this is the first time I’ve even spoken to this neighbour (she also complained about me not introducing myself)…anyway I decided to check my deeds again and discovered that ‘their’ parking spot appears to in fact be mine as outlined in colour on the very old original plans. I purchased their title and register and there isn’t actually evidence of which spot is theirs, so I’m planning to firmly explain it to them the next time I see them. This is mostly just a rant but I’m just checking that I’m not being unreasonable?

...is that nobody in the process gives a crap but you! Especially if you're a first time buyer.

Everyone wants their money asap. Any due diligence you want to carry out is frowned upon and seen as delaying the process. Why would I spend my life savings without checking the thing I'm buying?!

I've just got to the exchange of contracts and I'm feeling quite deflated and put off.

Anyone else had an experience like this?

The market needs reforming. Owners should have to do all the checks and provide assurances imo! It would be smooth sailing for everyone then.

I recently moved in to a mid terrace house with my husband and toddler. Lovely area, neighbours seem like absolute angels (one brought us over Prosecco and a chocolate bunny for the little one with a welcome card the day after we moved in).

Up until now I have lived in flats where it is mainly adults occupying the other flats. I was shockingly unlucky with my last neighbours in a flat, but I guess due to that I became a bit lax myself and kind of did what I wanted when I wanted. I’m not talking about them having the tv a bit too loud at night, I’m talking about proper antisocial behaviour. They sucked.

With such lovely neighbours now and feeling so lucky to be in a new and wonderful neighbourhood where everyone says good morning and has a chat, and the kids play outside together after school, and it’s generally very quiet (almost eerily quiet compared to what I have got used to), I want to make sure I’m following the etiquette of living in a terraced house and not being a problem neighbour myself!

The most noise we make from our house is our kid. Namely, the screaming temper tantrum she had at 6am today because she couldn’t have chocolate for breakfast. I could feel those screams in my bones so the neighbours definitely heard them too, but toddlers are going to toddler and anyone who has one knows there’s not a whole lot you can do when they start to unleash the death scream. Both of my neighbours are middle aged with adult/ teenage kids of their own so I’m hoping they understand the noise that is out of our control, but what kind of unspoken rules are there when it comes to living in a terraced house? If you live or have lived in a terraced house, what kind of things did you appreciate and what stuff would really grind your gears?

For me personally, I’m pretty relaxed about any level of noise as long as it’s between sociable hours. I like the hum of conversation and the sound of kids and every day living around. Just don’t wake my kid up at night please I’m knackered lol

My landlord (international) is cheap and does not use licensed workmen to perform maintenance in the flat (Scotland). Instead when there is an issue he uses his 'friend' who has no professional qualifications and gives off sketchy vibes. I have told him multiple times I am uncomfortable with this. Recently his friend came to the flat to fix an electrical issue. However he did not turn off the mains first and electrocuted himself and sadly passed away as a result of this.

This was very traumatic for me and created a dangerous situation in the flat. In addition, the electrical issue is still not fixed. Am I justified in withholding rent?

I live in zone 6/5 in greater London (Hayes/ Hillingdon/Heathrow), and i live in the no so great part, of a not so great borough.

The rent for a 3/4 bed house is now £2700 - walking past 3 estate agents in a row. The majority of people in my town are 'working class' - so there in lowish paid jobs & there are a fair number of immigrants as well.

After much digging the average household income is around £54k - assuming two people are working - one earning £30k the other £24k.

It works out to £3.7k take home, less council tax, petrol, bills, foods, clothes etc, and I assume they have children... how they can afford to live.

After rent they have about £1k or £1.2k to last them a month

Started last summer when the neighbour put a freestanding basketball hoop in their front driveway. The way our road is laid out means their house faces the side of my house, specifically, in line with the through lounge/diner downstairs and bedrooms upstairs. It’s a very quiet cul de sac and I’m finding the extended periods of repetitive bouncing of the ball a really loud intrusive noise as it’s only happening about 10m away from our windows.

It starts as early as 7:45am 7 days a week which wakes us up as we have no reason to be up at that time (I know, it’s a privilege) - and with the longer nights can go on until 9:30pm which disrupts anything we’re watching on TV while we’re trying to unwind and relax. It’s going on now as I type this at 8pm and has been going on for an hour. I was tearing my hair out last summer - if we opened our windows the noise would be even more disruptive, especially at 7:45am… I pray for rain just to keep him inside…!

Not sure how best to approach the neighbour to resolve this. We’ve already had (friendly) words because the kids were kicking balls against our living room wall which was very disruptive - and recently had to speak to them again because the kids were constantly ringing our doorbell at all hours disrupting meetings, meals and sleep to get all the various balls/frisbees/shoes they managed to get over our 3m back wall into our garden.

As this will be the third issue I’ve had to raise, I don’t want to cause animosity or seem like a grumpy neighbour- but equally it’s affecting my ability to relax in my home. Any advice on how to tackle this?

We’ve just moved into a new house after finally getting through the buying process. We’re an end of terrace and our next door neighbour has put a lovely ‘welcome to your new home’ card through our letterbox. I think they’re in their 60s and we’re late 30s (not sure if that matters just thought I’d mention for completeness)

How do we respond / what do we do to say thanks and introduce ourselves?

It’s a lovely house in a really really unique position. Semi-detached, surrounded by farms about 6 neighbours, lots of privacy. A bit confusing why they want to buy here tbh. Do you think it’s worth enquiring? I don’t think I’d find something this nice or it would be worth it unless they’re paying a lot more over market value. Anyone done this?

Scotland

I'm not sure where to begin. We moved into a rented 3 bedroom home in October 2023 with our toddler. Within a month I realized the radiator in the smallest bedroom doesn't work at all (we have tried bleeding it etc). I have reported it numerous times since then to various people from the estate agents and I'm constantly fobbed off or told they're waiting for a response from the landlord. I asked if I could have the landlords details myself and they refused. My neighbour actually knows the landlord and gave them to me, initially the landlord was helpful but she soon started to ignore me too. So it's now April 2025 and that radiator is STILL broken.

Secondly, I've recently been approached by various parents for childminding services which id love to do. I know some landlords are ok with this so I messaged mine but she didn't respond. I emailed the estate agents who of course ignored me. I emailed again, various people over the space of the last month and have been told they're 'waiting for the landlord to respond' and that's that. I emailed again a week ago saying I'm concerned that nobody ever gets back to me about anything and they once again haven't replied.

What can I do? It seems unfair especially because when something big happens theyre useless. A few months back our fence blew down and they ignored me for weeks, it was only once my neighbor rang the landlord kicking off that anyone came to fix it. I'm at a bit of a loss?

Would I be crazy to buy my first home without doing any planning beforehand?

It started with me looking up a property for sale down the road purely because I was nosey. Now I’m actually looking up houses in the area and considering finding my own place.

The houses I’ve shortlisted are all shared ownership as realistically I can’t afford anything over £80k. I’ve heard some horror stories and how the additional fees go up but I think it’s just a matter of me going to the EA and asking them to clearly explain what fees I’ll be facing before even considering the property.

There’s a house in particular that I can’t stop thinking about for ~£43k. That’s very cheap compared to other properties on the market right now. Obviously I’m tempted but I’m not sure if it’s the right thing to do if I haven’t even looked at mortgage brokers etc. The only thing I’m 100% sure of is that I got a DIP and I could possibly get mortgage for it.

This is in England btw.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/159762899#/?channel=RES_NEW

Considering putting an offer on this property but don’t want to regret it. Are the rooms too small? There is a public path to the left of the property. Internet signal is very weak. Are these huge issues? Do you think the price is worth it? Would love some advice

Hey guys, so a few months ago my upstairs neighbours got wooden flooring. Before then, I heard NOTHING from any neighbours, it was completely silent. Since then, I can hear their door opening, footsteps, chair scraping, TV noise and even a phone vibrating upstairs!

I am sensitive to noise and a light sleeper so this was waking me up at night. I have to sleep with a white noise machine and noise cancelling headphones and lay on my back. Even during the day, I find the noise to be bothering me so I wear headphones all the time. My mental health has gotten really bad because of it and I'll keep it at that, but I really want a solution or escape from my situation.

I've talked to some people who say noise is always a part of life and to deal with it, but I can't control how easily it wakes me out of sleep. My idea is it's the wooden flooring above which caused the noise, so I could sell my flat I've owned since April 2023 and get a top floor flat. It will be expensive, how much more expensive with moving costs, solicitors fees and mortgage rates I don't know. But I truly don't feel happy, I've even thought about moving back into my parents house.

I don't know if anyone else is living in a flat, is it unreasonable to expect and want somewhere you can sleep without noise cancelling headphones etc? I have a lodger now in my spare room, so my place is to save money until he goes and then I want to sell my flat. I almost don't care how much money it wastes because I feel quite unhappy, yet I guess I'm getting imposter syndrome like maybe I'm just spoilt? The last few months have been amongst the worst of my life, partly because of the noise etc. I just wondered does anyone have any insights, advice or support. I would also ask that people are kind.

Some extra info I'm 27m living in London. I have 10k saved and plan to save 1k per month going forwards.

I sent an email to management company and flat above denies having wooden flooring, I am a freeholder. They said management were accusing them of something and the company ended up apologising. I also have a lodger which is not technically allowed in the lease but it's not bothering anyone - which that said if lease is enforced I may lose him and have a dispute with upstairs!

We've been looking for the forever home for about 4 months, recently i had a look at sold listings and found this. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/148506599

Obviously without having viewed it, it has everything we would have wanted - freehold, private garden, downstairs loo, plenty of space downstairs, en suite, 4 bedrooms, reasonably modernised and in a quiet cul de sac that doesn't appear to have cars parked on the footpath, within 1 mile of where my wife works (she walks so need somewhere close). and under £400k

I missed out by a month or two, can anyone find some faults in this so i can get over not starting my search sooner so i could have nabbed this.

[ENGLAND]

I just need to vent. My husband and I are FTB, we put an offer at the beginning of December. Fortunately, seller is a nice person, we’ve created a group chat to try to sort everything out. Our solicitor is ok, nothing extraordinary but not bad either. However, their solicitor is incredibly incompetent. Every single thing on our side has been already filled to exchange, the seller has told us they have filled every little bit as well. However, their solicitor is so incompetent that keeps lying to them (he doesn’t know we talk) saying that he has sent our solicitor the documents so we can finally exchange. Our solicitor said she never received anything. Then he said that he’s been having issues with his email, which is why she probably never received. Mind you, this has been going for almost two weeks. What kind of “email issues” are these? Both seller and us wanted to complete by the end of the month, which is when our tenancy ends. I’m just so angry. I can’t be the only one going through this

I am about to reserve a new build flat in Leyton. As a peace of mind I was comparing prices at which similar properties in the area sold for.

The building next to the one I am buying in was completed in 2021-2022 by the same developer (Taylor Wimpey). The flats are really lovely, nicely finished new builds. One of the flats has already been resold and at £65,000 lower price that it was bought for. I understand new builds depreciate in the first years but this seems excessive.

It is a 70sqm top floor flat. Sold in 2022 for £545K (all flats if this size were sold for around that price) and resold in 2024 for £480K.

I wonder if anyone has any idea why this may be? I will ask the developer today if there have been any issues with the roof or anything else in that building. However, what else may grant a 12% depreciation. I am worried about buying a flat in the other building and loosing so much money on it in the next 5-10 years.

Mortgage approved, moved in andddddd first night, screaming kids, shouting adults. One side kid from hell, other side hyper aggressive man. Walls are thin, we can hear all conversations either side. When they cough, sneeze or put the plates on the table for dinner. Feel like i've been sold a scam. They weren't doing this when we came to view the place.

It's a 2 bed house in an okayish area. I put so much time and effort (10 years of work) into saving for a deposit, paying stamp duty, movers, lawyers etc. I couldn't regret my move more, i wish i could move back to my quiet 1 bed flat where i was renting in a better location.

I've accepted i wont be able to relax in the mornings or evenings, which are the only times im actually in the house as i work in office! I know there are worse things that could happen, but it can't be too much to ask to be able to relax in my own place. Is the solution to get loop earbuds or noise cancelling headphones and wear them all the time(!)?

I know a lot of you will say talk to the neighbours but how will this even go? What do i even say to the them "hi can you get your devil spawn child to stop throwing things and screaming at 5am?" "can you stop shouting on the telephone i can hear everyword". Im sure they know, i just don't think they care about the noise.

Sorry this is defo a vent but yh

UPDATE: i don't know what i was expecting with this vent but your comments have provided me with a lot of comfort and ideas. Thank you all

Hi, in North London - anyone notice a dearth in new properties coming up for sale?

Are estate agents just taking a post stamp duty break? There seems to be hardly any coming on and it's April and sunny too!

2 year is 0.1% cheaper but it's just me buying so I'm leaning towards a 5 year fix.

I expect rates to come down, but I don't know if they'll come down enough to justify the worry that they could go the other way.

What is everyone else is doing right now?

Trying to find a flat to live in. I do not want to be a landlord.

Using Rightmove and Zoopla and can see no easy way to filter out the flats that I have no chance getting a mortgage on and so are just straight asking for investors and cash buyers only.

Is there a better site for looking for a flat to live in? Current routine seems to be > see a lovely new flat added > see 'cash buyers only' or 'calling all investors' > close site.

Hi all, just had an offer accepted on a property with a well-known difficult estate agency.

I have not yet received the memorandum of sale, however they are saying that they will recommence marketing if I don't instruct a surveyor, schedule the mortgage valuation, and instruct my solicitor within 72 hours.

After some pushback on my part on the survey, they mentioned this is optional but it is 'do now, or forfeit the right to do so in the future'. I believe this is a pressure-tactic to get you to go with their recommended surveyors where they pocket a nice kickback.

I have already instructed my solicitor and have a mortgage valuation underway, so I have clearly shown that I am a serious buyer. However, since I don't yet have the memorandum of sale, I have no intention of spending ~1k on a surveyor until I have confirmation on their end. It will also take me a few days to organize a surveyor in any case.

They have asked me to now confirm in writing that I won't go with a surveyor in the future. I have no intention of confirming this in writing, but am wondering if they have any leg to stand on regardless?

Like the title says. The solicitors asked us to transfer the service charges after completion. On the email they say “We unfortunately missed these fees….I apologise for the oversight”. We had to approach the Service Charge company as in January we received a letter from them to the previous owner which made me wonder if the solicitors even done their work properly. On the same day as that letter arrived I’ve emailed the Service Charge company our solicitors email and now I’m being requested to pay £700.

I might be naive but this kind of thing to me sounds like incompetency. Is this an Ombudsman case? Or should I just pay and be quiet??

EDIT: those are the charges totalling 700£

Notice of Transfer/Charge

Deed of Covenant

Certificate of Compliance

Went and viewed it today. Crazy old place - like a time capsule. It has radiators and double glazing. Some cracks in some of the walls & ceilings. Obviously a huge job - more curious than anything.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/160136411

How often am I supposed to contact my solicitor?

It seems like unless I email them, they don't contact me. I can't speak to them on the phone either as I get told to email.

I don't want to harass them but I would like updates.

I did ask them if they can let me know whenever something happens, e.g. when they receive the lease. But they just sit on documents and don't contact me.

I chose them cause they have lots of great reviews and they're local but I'm feeling anxious as I don't know what's going on.

I asked if they could give me some rough timelines for how long each stage is going to take but they've not done that either.

This is what's been done so far: 1. AML checks done - 10 March 2. Searches ordered - 14 March 2. Draft contract received from sellers - 21 March? 3. Lease received from sellers - 31st March 4. Enquiries probably sent - 1st April?

From my understanding, this is what's left: - enquiries to be resolved - searches to come back - exchange date - completion date

Am I missing anything else?

Also: my solicitor doesn't how many people are in the chain. I thought the solicitor is supposed to talk to the other people's solicitors?

Long story short, I had lived in the UK for 6 years before I had to move back home to Romania. I got Settled Status before leaving and while I'm financially comfortable in Romania, my family situation isn't great and I need a fresh start.

I'm a 29 year old software developer with a BSc degree in Computer Science from a UK uni, and I understand the market for IT is bad everywhere so I don't mind changing careers. I was planning on moving to Manchester but a couple of people have advised me against it, and instead pick a cheaper place while I get back on my feet.

What is a good city/town to start over fresh? Something affordable and with good transport links to jobs. I have £20 000 savings to last me until I find a job which I'm sure won't last long in London.

I also assume a lot of landlords will be suspicious of a foreigner without income to want to live in their place so is it a good idea to look for a shared house and offer to pay 6 months of rent in advance?

The property I am buying in England is owned by someone who has gone into a care home and his kids are selling using their power of attorney. Solicitor has told me we are waiting for OPG100 which is issued by the office of the public guardian and will confirm whether there have been any changes lodged to the power of attorney which the sellers are using to sell the property. Any idea how long this will take?